Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Combat Boots

Remember the one liners from childhood, like your momma’s so big that… and your
momma wears combat boots….Well, it’s true.This bigger- by- the-
day momma is sporting combat boots.I’m
in a battle.

If you too have chosen to adopt children from “hard places” you are
too.We weren’t drafted, we willingly signed
up. Not a two or four year stint, but a lifelong promise to love.Many days it feels like I’m battling with my
kids, but it’s really a battle for my
kids. Some of us are fighting for
physical health, some emotional health and/or mental health. Some, are fighting
for all of the above.

But we aren’t just fighting a battle against flesh and blood, it’s a spiritual
battle.We’re battling for healing and
wholeness. What keeps me fighting is knowing who wins.

And I trust Him.He didn’t mess up
when he placed my kids in my home and heart.It wasn’t a mistake when He placed yours with you.I know He loves us, and He loves our kids---- the same kids He brought to us with broken hearts,
sometimes broken bodies and all with lost souls.

Some days it hurts to love them.Our
hearts are punctured with burdens we never dreamed or expected.Some days our bodies get hurt as we love and
hold a raging child. Some days our minds fight the fear of
tomorrow.Unfortunately, our children
are suffering in the cross-fire of our battling for their best.And let’s not forget our “tummy” kids who are wounded when the home they
knew is changed into a battle zone right in front of them.

Yes, this is the battle we’re called to fight.But people, we (that’s all of us who adopt
kids from “hard places”) need you.We
cannot fight it alone- even when we try so hard to be strong.We, need to round up some support troops. We
need friends who love us and our children and who understand this is more than
just being tired mommies and daddy's. People
who understand we obeyed God’s calling.

We need y’all to pray for us and some days we need more.We won’t likely ask you or tell you we need
it.That would feel like waving a white
flag of surrender.We are thankful for
the days you sense it.The days you come
around the cubicle wall with Kleenex and hugs when you over hear the sounds
of war.

We need you to understand why, when a simple question like “how’s the boys”,cause us to break out into sobs and we are never able to answer you. We might need you to offer practical things
like to cook dinner or pick up medications so we can just hold and love on our
kids at the end of an especially rough day of battle.

We need each other- fellow warriors- to encourage us and remind us there is Hope in the One who has already won the battle for us.

Mostly, we need our Church, the Body of Christ, to shelter us.It has to be the place where we can always go
when there is nowhere else to turn- the place where it’s safe to be real and
broken and scared.

When I first put on my boots, I thought it would be a temporary battle.Maybe a year or two and then our family would
be fixed- healed- whole.Five years in,
and the battle rages on; it rages stronger, and longer.Unless God chooses to do a miracle, it looks
like I’ll be sporting combat boots for a really long time.And,most likely so will you.

So, my fellow boot wearing parents I leave you with
these words from the Mighty Warrior himself: Isaiah 41:9b-10“You are my servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away.Fear not, for I am with you.Be not dismayed for I am your God.I will strengthen you.Yes, I will help you.I will uphold you with my righteous right
hand.”

My family

5 +

I'm Robin- I'm a simple girl from Tennessee who loves Jesus. I'm blessed to be a wife, mom, grandmother and a Marketing professional --- juggling it all and writing about it here.

I married the love of my life in 1986. Rex is my rock and my friend and I can't imagine doing this life without him.

1+1=2

We dreamed of a big family (wanted 12) but God had a different plan. Struggling with infertility, we became foster parents in hopes of adopting. It was our plan, not God's and we said never again. After 8 years of infertility Shayne was conceived. And God showed us that He gives us good gifts, more than we asked for and better than we could ever have imagined.

2+1=3

We still had a void in our hearts. So in obedience, doing it God's way this time we opened our hearts and home to foster parenting. We have had a few children come and go- none without leaving an imprint on our lives forever. Nothing could have prepared us for meeting our youngest sons in the ER parking lot on 10/23/06, with no idea how our lives would forever be changed. With their adoptions finally legal on November 21, 2009 we became five.

3+2=5

And that was the beginning- Emily and Kendall came into our lives and family in 2014 , and we grew by one when sweet Penelope was born in 2015 and our first grandson, Silas joined our family in January 2017.

5+4=9

Sometimes we let our crazy hang out. Always, we love loud. Different than what I imagined as a little girl but trusting God that it isn't supposed to be any other way.